A/N: SO, as you may notice in possibly the previous, but most likely the upcoming chapters, there's some cheesiness going on, particularly with res halls being named and whatnot. I just felt it needed to be done. Thanks again to anyone who has taken the time to reach this point in my story!
"Again!" Derek's orders echoed throughout the empty train cars in the old subway where he now stood, training his pack and readying for battle. Issac came at him, leaping over tables, evading obstacles, and finally making his move on Derek after scaling a pole and attempting to drop down on him. Derek easily caught Issac's shoulder and slammed him into the concrete floor. "Agh.." Issac groaned as he rolled to his side and grimaced with pain, Derek standing over him clearly frustrated with the young wolf's attempts.
Boyd, who had been sitting on the nearby stairwell quickly leaped to his feet, almost digging into the ground, and taking off, full speed, towards the turned back of Derek Hale. I got you now, Hale. Just as Boyd was inches away from slamming into his back, Derek quickly turned and with a swift movement of his hand, pushed Boyd just hard enough for him to stumble over Issac's body which was still laid across the floor. "Is anyone capable of-" Derek was quieted mid-sentence as Erica's foot swiftly made contact with his mouth, just as she dropped from the rafters, landing on Derek's back after he hit the floor. "You were saying?"
Boyd pulled Issac to his feet and gave Erica a high five. "That was awesome!" "It was okay," Derek said as he slowly pulled himself onto his feet. "Okay? Dude she knocked you down, you had no idea-" "And you're bleeding!" Boyd cut in as Issac was still congratulating Erica on the only successful attempt on Derek all day. "She got in a good hit, okay. But what's next? It would have just made me angry. Fully shifted, I could easily handle her, especially if her only backup is laying on the floor." Derek walked away from the betas and picked up his phone, "Keep going, I'll be back." As he walked up the stairs of the abandoned train station, Boyd sat back and watched as Issac and Erica began to spar.
"Help has arrived," Cora Hale bounced down the stairwell, followed by her uncle Peter and her sister Laura. "What are they doing here?" Boyd asked, quickly pulling his shirt back on, embarrassed by his weight and the sudden appearance of two girls. "You need help, more than I can give you right now." Derek stepped towards the group and started pulling them into pairs. "Alright, I want you guys to fight. And I mean fight. None of that soft stuff." "Uh, Derek.." Isaac looked at Derek then at the partner he was given, "I can't fight a girl." "Good thing it's not a girl," piped Cora from the other side of the room. Laura shot her sister a glare then turned to Issac, "I can handle myself." "She's got a point, Laura could probably take you..and Boyd, right now, if she wanted to."
Boyd was insulted, but before he could offer any annoyance with his alpha's comments, Peter swept his leg behind Boyd's, knocking him backwards as he forcefully drove his fist into the young man's gut. "Never let your guard down, it makes it easy for that kind of thing to happen." Peter stepped towards Boyd, teasingly kicking his side, "Get up big boy, gotta learn to take a hit."
After a few hours of the paired sparring and Derek walking amongst the groups, "I'm starving, Derek we're done," Cora ordered as she sat down in one of the rail cars and began stuffing her face with food. "I swear that girl is like a garbage disposal. How did your mother ever manage to feed you all?" Peter asked as he sat by his nephew with a disgusted look on his face. Cora shot Peter a scowl and continued to shovel handfuls of chips into her mouth.
Laura crossed to the rail car and sat down with a bottle of water and flicked some at Derek. "You have some talent, brother." "Yeah, well, I've been doing this since we were kids, you know. Mom was a good teacher, I'm genetically gifted, I'm bound to-" "Pretty sure she was talking about your pack, Derek." Derek looked to Laura who nodded in approval at Peter's comment. "Oh." Cora stopped eating long enough to laugh at her brother before pulling out a sandwich from her bag and starting on it. "Does it ever stop?" Peter, still disgusted with his niece's eating, turned to face the betas who decided to keep fighting.
"The girl, what's her name?" "Erica," Cora said between bites of peanut butter and jelly. "Yes, her, she shows real promise Derek," Peter paused. "I'll have to keep my eye on that one." As the last word left Peter's mouth, Issac came flying into the rail car, leaving Boyd and Erica still attacking one another. Laura ran to Issac's side as Cora hopped up from the floor and joined her uncle. "She's a pretty good fighter. She busted Derek open earlier." "Oh, really?" Peter asked, turning to give Derek a disapproving look, "You let a girl take you out?" "Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I can't stand my ground. I bet I could take you." Erica helped a beaten Boyd get to his feet and joined Laura just outside the car who was still sitting with Isaac.
"Can we be done for the day? I have about 100 bones that need to heal." "I guess," Derek sighed. "I'm tired of watching you get your ass handed to you on a silver platter." Derek stood up and put on his jacket, "Hey, want a ride?" he nodded at Erica. "Sure, I'm tired from winning all day," she grinned at her friends' beaten bodies and chuckled to herself, remembering to take it easy next time. As the group scattered and went their separate ways, Erica and Derek got into his car and began their drive back to campus.
"You looked pretty good out there today, I'm impressed." "Oh, well I live to impress thy humble leader.." Erica trailed retorted as she watched the passing cars on the street. "No, really, I thought Boyd would be my best fighter, I mean look at the guy, he's gigantic-" "He's not gigantic." Erica's words came out bitter and tinged with anger, almost provoking an apology from Derek for something he doesn't even know that he did. "Sorry, that was a bit rude, wasn't it?" "No, no, not at all." Derek shifted gears and sped passed Boyd's car that he only just now realized was in front of him.
"Is that Cora?" Derek peered into the car, now behind him. "Watch out!" Erica grabbed the wheel and jerked it to miss swerving into the next lane and slamming into another car. "God, nice driving Dale." Derek shot a glare at Erica and turned his rear view mirror to see into Boyd's car. "It's.." "Laura? Yeah. Seems like Lahey has a thing for your sister. Pretty sure she likes him too. They're always together. It's kind of-" "Disgusting? Oh, I'm gonna.." Derek trailed off into a mutter Erica couldn't quite make out. "I was going to say cute but yeah, revolting is another emotion associated with their love affair."
"Not really a romantic, are you?" Erica shot Derek a condescending glare before answering, "I'm just not into the whole 'love' thing like everyone else. You must get that, I've never seen you interested in anyone, and as far as Cora knows, you've never dated anyone-" "I've dated people." Derek stated defensively. I've been into girls before. I'm into a girl right now. "I've dated. My little sister doesn't know my whole life." Erica raised her hands and shrugged, "I'm just saying what I've been told. Whatever, you date all the imaginary girls you want to, Derek."
"Where have you guys been all day?" Talia tiredly asked as her brother and her youngest daughter walked into the kitchen to join her. "Sorry mom," Cora kissed her mother on the cheek before heading to the refrigerator and began picking at the food. "Your child is a bottomless pit, Talia." Peter said, disgusted, as he sat at the counter and watched his sister peel potatoes for their dinner. "Oh, that's nice Peter, insult your niece." Peter shrugged, "Niece or not, she's going to be the size of a blimp one day." Cora turned away from the fridge and shot a nasty glare at her uncle before leaving the room. "Love you," Peter shouted after her.
"Really though, all my help left, where did you go?" Talia pulled a stool up to where she stood and faced her brother. "To the subway. Derek's pack started training today." "Enough said," Talia turned back to the potatoes as Peter laughed. "He's really got his hands full. The large one, Boyd, he's not doing nearly as much damage as we all thought he would. And Isaac.." Peter shook his head, "That boy needs more help than any of us could give him." Talia let out a small laugh as she stood and walked to the sink. "The girl though, Derek found a real winner with that one." "She has a name, Peter." "Yes, yes, Erica, I know. She has real potential. She even took Derek out today. I can't even do that," Peter paused, "well, on my own.." Talia raised an eyebrow at her brother then turned back to the food. "I'm glad she's transitioning well. She was terrified of this life. It's good to hear things are going well."
"More than well," Laura said as she entered the kitchen and kissed her mom. "Derek's pack is looking great." "Great? Did we watch the same kids earlier? They were horrid." "It wasn't that bad, Peter. Erica is really great. I mean, that girl is gifted. I wouldn't be surprised if she challenged Derek for Alpha one day." "Can we not talk about someone murdering your brother for one day? Please? We were having such a good streak.." Talia returned to the counter with two bowls of vegetables. "Now that you're here, you can do something productive." She shoved the bowls into Peter and Laura's hands before giving them both smiles and turning back to the stove. "Speaking of which, where is your brother?"
"Well, here we are." Derek pulled up to the front of Wisteria Hall and turned off the engine. Wisteria was the only all female hall on campus. Like Derek had said, he actually had been a little more than "interested" in a few girls, most of which were passing him by on their way in and out of the building, not attempting to hide their disgust and anger with him in the slightest. "Well Mr. Popular, I guess Cora was wrong.." Erica grinned as Derek blushed and gave him a light punch in the arm. "Do I even want to know why all these girls look like they want to rip your throat out with their teeth?" Erica raised an eyebrow. "Probably not." Derek started the car again as Erica grabbed her things and opened the door, "Thanks for the fun today, teach, we'll have to do it again sometime." Erica gave Derek a wink and turned to walk away, leaving her alpha staring just a little too long and a little too hard at her walking away.
Just as Derek pulled away from the hall, his phone started buzzing. "What?" "Wow, what a lovely greeting for your sister." Derek rolled his eyes, "Seriously, what?" "Mom's giving dinner orders and wants you to report for duty." "Ugh, god, Cora. Tell her I'm busy, tell her I'm not coming home right now," but just as the words left his mouth, Derek realized he was already driving down the long wooded path that lead to the Hale house. Crap. "I can hear your car from here, doubt that's gonna work. See ya inside bro." Cora ended the call just as Derek pulled up to the house. "This should be fun," Derek sighed as he got out of the car and walked up to the door, "Derek, welcome home."
Talia met her son at the door with a stack of plates and silverware, "Set the table. Dinner will be done soon." Before Derek could offer any resistance, she walked away and he reluctantly pulled off his shoes and entered the dining room, evading the small children running by and began setting the table.